Greenyard foods has revealed its results for full-year 2016/17, with CEO Marleen Vaesen pointing to strong growth and debt reduction as part of an overall positive year.

However, the group's bottom line was affected by one-off costs relating to refinancing.

Greenyard's yearly sales climbed 7.1 per cent, from €3.97bn to 4.25bn, with Fresh sales up 5.4 per cent – largely due to growth in the German and Dutch markets.

While REBITDA improved and net debt fell, the company's net result actually dropped 95.9 per cent to €0.7m from €17m in 2015/16, mainly the result of one-off costs of €24.9m related to refinancing.

"Greenyard had a healthy performance with strong sales and REBITDA growth, which was realised in its core markets and with the acquisition of Lutèce," noted Vaesen. "Moreover, the balance sheet improved with a significant drop in net financial debt, improvements in working capital and interest costs savings. Combined with the increased REBITDA, leverage decreased as well. This was achieved including the one-off costs of the refinancing.

"We continue to focus on our strategic priorities to drive profitable growth," Vaesen continued. "We aligned the group behind a common mission, vision and values and one single company name, Greenyard. We launched a number of projects to propel future top-line growth and reduce our cost base going forward. In fresh, new distribution centres have been built in Germany, Belgium and the US.

"To conclude, we are confident Greenyard has the right strategy and priorities in place to generate profitable growth and strengthen further our position as a global leader of fruit & vegetables in all its forms."